By Jason Crane
At the Aurora city government City Council meeting Tuesday, through the Zoom video conference platform, members agreed to postpone a vote on a plan to build a gas station at the northwest corner of Farnsworth Avenue and Molitor Road on the East Side.
The resolution has been held to allow time for residents to have their questions answered and the vote could happen at the April 13 City Council meeting.
• Seven individuals spoke against the plan.
The speakers, mostly residents near the proposed gas station expressed concern, including traffic on Molitor increasing from an already bad situation. This property and the surrounding area are susceptible to flooding and there are concerns that this property only will exacerbate the issue.
Concerns included the potential for runoff and damage to well water used by homes behind the lot.
Engineers replied that the issues have been addressed and will be mitigated.
The petitioners are requesting approval of a preliminary plan and plat for a gasoline station use and are not opening an additional gas station, instead plan to move across the street to a larger property.
The existing Circle K, on the northeast corner will be demolished and sold for a different type of use. There are four pumps with eight fueling positions at the station at 1851 N. Farnsworth Avenue while there are seven pumps with 14 fueling positions being proposed at the new location.
Along with the gas station, an approximate 5,200 sq. ft. convenience store is being proposed as well; larger than the 1,500 sq. ft. store on the current property. Due to this property being in the floodplain, a large amount of the property is being utilized as detention/compensatory storage. Roughly 106,000 sq. ft., or 2.43 acres, would be dedicated to open space in order to mitigate the concerns of flooding. As proposed, the building is approximately 150 feet to the nearest residential lot line, and further to the nearest house.
Ward 10 alderman Judd Lofchie said, “I was there and I did meet with a lot of the neighbors and I would like to say we really need to listen to the residents and I want Mr. Scarlotto (of the proposed site) to know that if there were no neighbors next door, I don’t think you would have any real push back.
“The fact that the fella next door has a well and a lot have wells, it’s kind of a big deal. Benzene causes cancer!
“You can have all the bells and whistles you want, but honestly if it floods, I mean it already floods, even though you’re saying it may help it a little, if that gasoline gets into those wells, what are we going to do?”
Ward 1 alderman Emmanuel Llamas said, “I did organize a meeting with residents and developers at this point probably over a month ago. At that time the developers answered a lot of questions but there are a lot more follow-up questions.
“Since that time there have been more of our residents and (Aurora) Township residents have been involved in the process.”
Alderman Llamas added, “How proud I am to see our residents organize within their communities and neighborhoods to make their voices heard at this level.”
Alderman-at-large Bob O’Connor made a motion that the vote be postponed until the next City Council meeting and the motion was seconded.
• Unanimously approved were three resolutions appointing nine inaugural members for the Aurora Civilian Review Board (CRB).
Members will serve terms ranging from one to three years after a lottery was held to stagger the end date of service.
• Approved for a three-year term on the Aurora Civilian Review Board was: Kim Bright, Jacqueline Gibson, and Andrea McMillian.
• Approved for a two-year term on the Aurora Civilian Review Board was: Rajesh Char, Ginger Ingram, and Curtis Wilson.
• Approved for a one-year term on the Aurora Civilian Review Board was: Dr. Timothy Brown, Dr. Vincent Gaddis, and Lily Rocha.
Mayor of Aurora, Richard Irvin, established the CRB to review, evaluate, and make recommendations concerning the police department’s activities and efforts in promoting and achieving equity with respect to racial, gender, and cultural diversity in officer recruitment and training.
Starting with 134 applicants, the nine-member Board will review and evaluate the administration and consistency in the imposition of discipline within the department with respect to civilian complaints.
• Unanimously approved was a resolution authorizing the acceptance of the donation of frames from Feltes Photography to Public Art.
City government of Aurora documents show:
As the Aurora family business Feltes Photography was forced to sell their studio after business loss due to the pandemic, Pam Feltes reached out to Public Art to offer a donation of hundreds of picture frames and 60 frame hanging bars for gallery walls.
Ms Feltes needs a receipt in order to claim the donation as a tax deduction. She states that it is important to her to donate these materials to Aurora. She is valuing the donation at $5,100; it may be an underestimation for the quantity and quality of the frames.
Accepting this donation will save Pubic Art money on frames that would need to be purchased for future gallery exhibits, and provide additional materials for hanging art. Public Art will have an opportunity to create an equitable system of donating frames to Aurora artists.
• Unanimously approved was a resolution authorizing the execution of a first amendment to the redevelopment agreement previously entered into between the Aurora city government and Bernie Laskowski/Craft Urban at 41 S. Stolp Avenue, the former Assell Photo Shop.
City government of Aurora documents show:
The purpose is to modify certain provisions of the previously approved redevelopment agreement to allow construction to begin immediately and enable the owner/restaurateur Bernie Laskowski to draw from the previously approved $600,000 loan.
There were two Council actions that are material to this amendment. The first is resolution R19-421 on December 30, 2019 provided for the City’s purchase of the adjacent vacant lot and a commitment to fund up to $600,000 in a renovation/construction loan subject to terms to be spelled out in a subsequent redevelopment agreement and the second with resolution R20-077 on April 1, 2020 that formalized mutual understandings and commitments between Mr. Laskowski and the City.
The pandemic had a direct impact of the timing laid out in the timeline attached to the original redevelopment agreement. In addition, after purchasing the building in December 2019, Mr. Laskowski and his team re-evaluated certain aspects within the restaurant that led to a decision to replace three planned upstairs apartments with additional function and restaurant space. A number of meetings with the development services team under the guidance of chief Development Services officer John Curley occurred that vetted the proposed modified plan. The result is that building permits are about to be issued.
Since the redevelopment agreement was approved, the City has determined that having all if its monetary advances go through a title company is a more efficient best practice. As such, the City has agreed to an arrangement with Chicago Title that will enable the city to retain the protections of sign offs by John Curley and chief financial officer Marty Lyons while ensuring that lien waivers and other third-party protections are in place.
John Curley approved the first $50,000 advance based on approved up front costs.
City government staff members reviewed both the plan changes and its financial impacts. The new configuration will increase the restaurant space by an additional 50 seats and allow private dining/small banquets for up to 100 persons. The resultant seating capacity will more than double. An elevator will be installed as well fire sprinklers.
The City has reviewed the economics of forgoing the costs of fitting out the three apartments against the additional costs of installing an elevator and fire sprinklers. The increase costs for the elevator and other items will be more than offset by avoiding the build out of the three apartments, estimated to cost almost $300,000. There is a substantial benefit to utilizing the fixed costs of the restaurant build out and amortizing them over a sizably increased seating capacity.
The original projection had Craft Urban using their net revenues as payments for the City’s debt service of about $76,000 a year for a term of 10 years. Taking in account the increased seating capacity and segmenting of the market to include banquets, the restaurant’s profitability is projected to almost double.
• Unanimously approved was a resolution authorizing the execution of a revised second amendment to the Y’All LLC (F/K/A Windy City Distribution, Inc.) redevelopment agreement.
City government of Aurora documents show:
The purpose is to modify the recently approved amendment to enable Y’All to sell their building at 1103 Butterfield Road, within the Liberty Business Park, approximately seven months earlier than is permitted in the redevelopment agreement.
Subsequent to the approval of the second amendment on January 26, 2021, the City was advised that the purchaser had changed.
The original buyer was identified as Prologis, a world leader in industrial real estate for over 30 years. A different company, Yashrut Realty (Butterfield Logistics Center IL) Limited Partnership, a Delaware limited partnership, replaced Prologis as the buyer. Yashrut is a wholley owned subsidiary of Dalfen Industrial, one of the largest buyers of industrial real estate who both manages and own their own properties and have been in the real estate business for over 50 years.
The City Council unanimously approved the following agenda items:
• Approved was a resolution approving of third-party administrative services for Cities in Schools to administer the 2021 Summer and after-school programs in the amount not to exceed $163,000.00 for the Community Services Division.
• Approved was an ordinance vacating a storm easement, sanitary easement, and a watermain easement on the property located on the east side of Fox Valley Mall, west Route 59, south of New York Street in DuPage County, Aurora.
• Approved was a resolution authorizing well maintenance services for well no. 23 for the Water Production Division.
• Approved was a resolution authorizing a professional services agreement with Crawford, Murphy & Tilly, Inc., for the development of a source water protection plan for the Water Production Division.
• Approved was a resolution approving the installation of Plymovent systems by Hastings Air Energy Control, Inc. at Aurora Fire Station 4 and Station 5 for reserve vehicles.
• Approved was a resolution authorizing the replacement of obsolete programmable logic controllers for the Water Production Division.
• Approved was a resolution authorizing various laboratory water analyses from Eurofins Eaton Analytical, LLC for budget year 2021 for the Water Production Division totaling approximately $45,000.00.
City government of Aurora documents show:
Historically, the cost of these water analysis services have fluctuated between $15,000 to $25,000 annually, and thus have not needed City Council approval previously.
Recently, the compounds known as Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in drinking water have become a very discussed and researched topic in the national drinking water industry. PFAS are a group of approximately 5,000 human-made substances that have been manufactured in the United States since the 1940s for their unique oil and water-resistant properties and have been utilized for a variety of applications ranging from water and stain-proofing to firefighting. This has resulted in PFAS being released into the air, water, and soil. Some PFAS have been phased out of production due to environmental and human health concerns, yet they persist in the environment and may contaminate surface and ground waters.
• Approved was a resolution allowing the Aurora Police Department to enter into intergovernmental agreements with other local public safety agencies for radio interoperability for mutual aid purposes.
• Approved was a resolution establishing the maximum number of Class A: Package Sales liquor licenses (unofficially related to the application from Aurora Mart, LLC d/b/a Galena Liquors, 133 W. Galena Blvd., Aurora.
• Approved was a resolution to purchase an Eagle Air Talon II self-contained breathing air (SCBA) compressor and fill station, in the amount of $45,030.00 from SCBAS Inc., of Washington, Ill..
• Approved was a resolution authorizing the director of Purchasing to enter into an agreement with Abbey Paving & Sealcoating Company, Inc., Aurora in the amount of $143,344.15 for the replacement of concrete at Aurora Fire Department Station 5.
• Approved was a resolution to allow the Aurora Financial Empowerment Center to apply for a Kane County Grand Victoria Riverboat Grant, to help with staffing of the new financial counseling program. The amount requested is $30,000.
City government of Aurora documents show:
With grant assistance from the Cities For Financial Empowerment, as well as funding from the City of Aurora and several area banks and local agencies, the Financial Empowerment Center opened in a City-owned building on South River Street in April 2020. The FEC provides free, one-on-one financial guidance to low- and moderate-income residents.
Since its opening, the FEC’s financial counselors have assisted more than 300 residents in finding ways to increase their savings and reduce their financial debt.
The Aurora FEC has contracted with The Neighbor Project, which serves as the FEC’s primary collaborator. The Neighbor Project has a specialized expertise in helping low- to moderate-income residents buy their first home.
Other partnering agencies include: African American Men of Unity, Aurora Housing Authority, Family Focus Aurora, Good Samaritan Network, Hesed House, Mutual Ground, Taking Back Our Community, Waterford Cancer Resource Center, Aurora Public Library District, Association for Individual Development, Kane County Sheriff’s Department, RITAS Ministry, VNA Healthcare, Waubonsee Community College, St. Vincent DePaul Society, World Relief DuPage, Fox Valley United Way, The Community Builders, Inc, and Two Rivers Head Start Agency.
• Approved was a resolution authorizing the City of Aurora’s Division of Communications in the office of the Mayor and the Division of Information Technology in the Office of Innovation & Core Services to enter into an agreement with Duke Energy Corporation (Duke Energy), for the purpose of permitting Duke Energy to publish a digital kiosk case study and related promotional releases.
City government of Aurora documents show:
Duke Energy has requested the City’s permission to produce and publish a case study and related promotional releases following Duke Energy’s successful installation of eight smart digital kiosks in the City of Aurora. This project was completed by Duke Energy in conjunction with Smart City Media, OnLight Aurora and City staff members in 2020.
The City’s Public Information Office and Information Technology Department staff members have coordinated with Duke Energy in developing, reviewing and approving the content of the Duke Energy case study.
There are no costs associated with this agreement between the City and Duke Energy to release this case study and related promotional releases.
• Approved was a resolution authorizing the director of Purchasing to enter into an agreement with Schroeder Asphalt Services in Huntley in the amount of $894,040.00 for the 2021 Citywide Pavement Patching for water and sewer maintenance.
• Approved was a resolution to award a three year contract to Cox Landscaping, LLC in the amount of $83,300.00 per year for the landscape maintenance of rain gardens and miscellaneous storm BMPs project.
• Approved was a resolution to enter into a memorandum of understanding with the Fox Valley Music Foundation for the calendar year of 2021.
City government of Aurora documents show:
The City and the Foundation would like to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding which outlines the terms and conditions upon which the Foundation may utilize Mundy Park for their events.
The Fox Valley Music Foundation leases City property at 19-21 S. Broadway, also known as The Venue. The Foundation chose this location for its close proximity to Mundy Park. The Venue’s location on Broadway was developed with a garage door which opens to Mundy Park for the purpose of hosting outdoor concerts.
The City is seeking a new agreement with the Foundation for the year of 2021. Last year The Venue held several outdoor concerts at Mundy Park, and the Foundation and the City would like to see The Venue continue to host events there in the summer. This agreement outlines the obligations of both the Fox Valley Music Foundation and of the City. Similar to last years agreement, this agreement outlines that the Foundation will follow State and local health department guidelines, and that events will only be permitted as long as the State remains in Phase 4 of the Governor’s Restore Illinois Plan.
• Approved was a resolution authorizing the 2021 Ward Neighborhood Cleanup Program and shred events in all wards in the city of Aurora.
• Approved was an ordinance amending chapter 27, sections 27-171 and sec. 27-183 of the code of ordinances, city of Aurora.
Amending this ordinance will allow police cadets the ability to assist in removal of motor vehicles as necessary.
The City’s code discusses the ability for police officers to authorize a tow of vehicles under the two sections. The state statutes regarding tows allow more than a police officer (or peace officer) the ability to remove a vehicle.
• Approved was an ordinance for the establishment of Special Service Area number #202 for stormwater management purposes related to Mitchell Road Industrial Park (Vacant Lots 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 northeast corner of I-88 and Mitchell Road).
• Approved was an ordinance for the establishment of Special Service Area number #203 for stormwater management purposes related to Bardwell Community Subdivision (Fox Valley Developers, LLC) in the City of Aurora.
• Approved was an ordinance for the establishment of a Special Service Area number #204 for stormwater management purposes related to C.M. Bardwell School in the City of Aurora.
• Approved was an ordinance for the establishment of Special Service Area number #205 for stormwater management purposes related to Ground Effects in the City of Aurora.